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Metal By Numbers 11/1: Like A Sour Stone

Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week.

While most of the East Coast is still struggling during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, album sales across the board experienced a nice boost. And while some blonde singer upset about a break up (no, not Adele) sold over 1.2 million copies, metal and hard rock also did pretty well. Case in point, Stone Sour.

The group’s House Of Gold & Bones Pt. 1 scored a top 10 debut with well over 31,000 copies sold. Granted, this is roughly 15,000 copies less than 2010’s Audio Secrecy (which also debuted in the top 10). However, that’s still better than the gap between the later album and 2006’s Come What(ever) May (roughly 35,000 copies less to be more precise). Add onto the fact that this new record is considerably heavier than its predecessor (and has a concept, mind you), we’d say Stone Sour have a lot to celebrate.

Notable Debuts

Stone Sour, House of Gold & Bones(Roadrunner) #7, 31,200 sold
The first part of a double concept album, the Corey Taylor fronted Stone Sour has a strong debut as it has found its way into the top 10. The second part is due out early next year.

The Sword, Apocryphon (Razor & Tie) #17, 16,800 sold
Austin, TX metallers The Sword have the highest debut of their career with album number four. It’s the band’s first release on Razor & Tie and the first with drummer Jimmy Vela.

Pig Destroyer, Book Burner(Relapse) #94, 4,200 sold
Album number five from grindcore masters Pig Destroyer has a deluxe edition which includes a short story titled “The Atheist” by frontman J.R. Hayes. And hey, a grindcore album is in the top 100!

Wintersun, Time I(Nuclear Blast) #101, 3,900
After eight years, Finnish metallers Wintersun have finally released their second album, with Time II set to release next year (seems like this is trending nowadays).

Upon This Dawning, To Keep Us Safe(Fearless) #179, 2,300 sold
This is the debut album for the group who hail from Italy. The album artwork looks like it’s from some 300 ripoff Facebook game.

Ill Nino, Epidemia (Victory) #183, 2,300 sold
Back with album number six, this New Jersey band is looking to “redefine Latin metal” this time around according to drummer Dave Chavarri.

Sister Sin, Now & Forever (Victory) 660 sold
Described as female fronted “old-school metal,” this Swedish band puts out album number four.

KISS are smart enough to know that they’ve cultivated a fan base that will still buy whatever they put out. Combine that with some reviews that are actually solid, and you’ve got an album that’ll continue to sell.

After a top 10 debut, everyone’s favorite death metal cartoon group get kick out of the top 50. Hopefully their tour with Machine Head, All That Remains and The Black Dahlia Murder will extend sales (though Hurricane Sandy hasn’t helped so far).

News Ticker

A Pale Horse Named Death, the project featuring former Life Of Agony and Type O Negative members will release their new album When The World Becomes Undone on January 18th, 2019 via Long Branch Records/SPV. Today (14th), the group are streaming the new song “Vultures.” Check out the track below and pre-order the album here.

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KoRn guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer joined Hyro the Hero onstage earlier this week (4th) during Hyro’s performance at the Viper Room in Los Angeles, CA. Shaffer’s surprise guest appearance was for the song “Devil In Disguise,” taken from Hyro’s latest effort Flagged Channel. Check out the fan-filmed clip below: [via Revolver]

It looks like Mastodon are working on their follow-up to 2017’s Emperor of Sand. Drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor shared an image via Instagram of himself and guitarist Bill Kelliher confirming new music is in the works. Check out the image below: View this post on Instagram […]

Machine Head’s Robb Flynn has revealed he will perform at Stars to the Rescue XXVIII, which is scheduled to be held on January 26, 2019 at Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, CA. Flynn will have a 30 minute performance as he announced his participation in the below video: Tickets are available at […]